The World Peril of 1910 | Page 5

me in
that."
"Wonderful," said the Chancellor.
"A miracle," said the Field Marshal, "if it can only be realised."
"There is no doubt about that, gentlemen," said Castellan, going back to
the machine. "Which of the models would your Majesty like to see
destroyed first?"
The Kaiser pointed to the model of a battleship which was a very good
imitation of one of the most up-to-date British battle-ships.

"We will take that one first," he said.
Castellan smiled, and began to play the keys. The grey shape of the
Flying Fish dropped to the bottom of the tank, rose, and seemed all at
once to become endowed with human reason, or a likeness of it, which
was so horrible that even the Kaiser and his two chiefs could hardly
repress a shudder. It rose very slowly, circled among the floating
models about two feet under the surface and then, like an animal
smelling out its prey, it made a dart at the ship which the Kaiser had
indicated, and struck it from underneath. They saw a green flash stream
through the water, and the next moment the model had crumbled to
pieces and sank.
"Donner-Wetter!" exclaimed the Chancellor, forgetting in his wonder
that he was in the presence of His Majesty, "that is wonderful,
horrible!"
"Can there be anything too horrible for the enemies of the Fatherland,
Herr Kanztler," said the Kaiser, looking across the tank at him, with a
glint in his eyes, which no man in Germany cares to see.
"I must ask pardon, your Majesty," replied the Chancellor. "I was
astonished, indeed, almost frightened -- frightened, if your Majesty will
allow me to say so, for the sake of Humanity, if such an awful
invention as that becomes realised."
"And what is your opinion, Field Marshal?" asked the Kaiser with a
laugh.
"A most excellent invention, your Majesty, provided always that it
belongs to the Fatherland."
"Exactly," said the Kaiser. "As that very intelligent American officer,
Admiral Mahan, has told us, the sea-power is world-power, and there
you have sea-power; but that is not the limit of the capabilities of Mr
Castellan's invention, according to the specifications which I have read,
and on the strength of which I have asked him to give us this
demonstration of its powers. He calls it, as you know, the Flying Fish.

So far you have seen it as a fish. Now, Mr Castellan, perhaps you will
be kind enough to let us see it fly."
"With pleasure, your Majesty," replied the Irishman, "but, in case of
accident, I must ask you and the Chancellor and the Field Marshal to
stand against the wall by the door there. With your Majesty's
permission, I am now going to destroy the rest of the fleet."
"The rest of the fleet!" exclaimed the Field Marshal. "It is impossible."
"We shall see, Feldherr!" laughed the Kaiser. "Meanwhile, suppose we
come out of the danger zone."
The three greatest men in Germany, and perhaps on the Continent of
Europe, lined up with their backs to the wall at the farther end of the
room from the tank, and the Irishman sat down to his machine. The
keys began to click rapidly, and they began to feel a tenseness in the air
of the room. After a few seconds they would not have been surprised if
they had seen a flash of lightning pass over their heads. The Flying
Fish had sunk to the bottom of the tank, and backed into one of the
corners. The keys of the machine clicked louder and faster. Her nose
tilted upwards to an angle of about sixty degrees. The six-bladed
propeller at her stem whirled round in the water like the flurry of a
whale's fluke in its death agony. Her side-fins inclined upwards, and,
like a flash, she leapt from the water, and began to circle round the
room.
The Kaiser shut his teeth hard and watched. The Chancellor opened his
mouth as if he was going to say something, and shut it again. The Field
Marshal stroked his moustache slowly, and followed the strange shape
fluttering about the room. It circled twice round the tank, and then
crossed it. A sharp click came from the machine, something fell from
the body of the Flying Fish into the tank. There was a dull sound of a
smothered explosion. For a moment the very water itself seemed
aflame, then it boiled up into a mass of seething foam. Every one of the
models was overwhelmed and engulfed at the same moment. Castellan
got up from the machine, caught the Flying Fish in his hand, as it
dropped towards the water, took it to the Kaiser, and said:

"Is your Majesty convinced? It is quite harmless now."
"God's thunder, yes!" said the War Lord